Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

MacBook Pro Updates Imminent (Really), Part Numbers Appear

zoemacuser said:
Question:... What IS the big deal about blu-ray, and why is it so important in MBPs?
Click to expand...

The biggest reason for blu-ray support on the Mac is content creation. Many of us have HD camcorders and would love to create media to send to family for use in their blu-ray players. Right now, I have to reduce the resolution on all of my family videos (mostly of my newborn daughter) before I can send them out.

Yes, I can build a .mkv file for use on computers, but most of my family uses macbooks and do not have enough screen real estate to see the entire movie in all its glory.

So, the hope is that once blu-ray players are included in the hardware, the professional software will also provide the proper content creation tools. And with NAB here, the hope was for blu-ray to show up in the hardware alongside an update to Final Cut Studio.

Hickman
 
ajsnow6234 said:
I certainly agree...while the price increase is likely a good sign in the sense that it means something good is coming, it doesn't help them retain some customers that may be swayed by price. I personally was set on the 15" MB471LL/A, 2.53GHz and will be getting the comparable MBP that comes regardless. I'm excited!
Click to expand...

By something good, you mean Apple catching up with things that have been in PC machines for almost 3 years?

A price increase means nothing, Apple increase the prices even when their costs plummet - last MacPro anyone.

If you think a price increase means anything more than Jobs and co just wanting more profit then you are sadly mistaken.
 
ten-oak-druid said:
You should buy a lottery ticket because getting a good Dell seems quite lucky. I have known several people who owned Dell's and ended up hating the company because of the poor customer support they got when their computer went bad.
Click to expand...

Strange, everyone with a Dell that I know, seem to be quite happy with their Customer Support.
I recently bought an Acer Aspire, and the Acer's CS, that's poor !
 
Brian Hickman said:
The biggest reason for blu-ray support on the Mac is content creation. Many of us have HD camcorders and would love to create media to send to family for use in their blu-ray players. Right now, I have to reduce the resolution on all of my family videos (mostly of my newborn daughter) before I can send them out.

Yes, I can build a .mkv file for use on computers, but most of my family uses macbooks and do not have enough screen real estate to see the entire movie in all its glory.

So, the hope is that once blu-ray players are included in the hardware, the professional software will also provide the proper content creation tools. And with NAB here, the hope was for blu-ray to show up in the hardware alongside an update to Final Cut Studio.

Hickman
Click to expand...

Cool, another good answer, thank you.

Does that make blu-ray a make-or-break factor on a new MBP for you, or just a "gosh that would be nice."

Can one not get an external blu-ray R/W? I realize this means extra cash, but it would solve the problem for those who absolutely need it.
 
zoemacuser said:
Cool, another good answer, thank you.

Does that make blu-ray a make-or-break factor on a new MBP for you, or just a "gosh that would be nice."

Can one not get an external blu-ray R/W? I realize this means extra cash, but it would solve the problem for those who absolutely need it.
Click to expand...

I am not in the market for a MBP as I do most of my heavy lifting on my Mac Pro. But I have not purchased an external Blu-Ray drive yet, because I am trying to avoid doing my blu-ray authoring by boot camping into Windows 7 and buying windows versions of Adobe tools.

Hickman
 
It would certainly make me update too. I use FCP and iMovie9 for HD video edits and don't really want to buy an add on unit. The cost implications to Apple shouldn't be that great so it would be nice to have.

Someone else said that he could tell no difference between Bluray and DVD.....well....if you had a projector / screen set up in a home cinema then you would see the difference instantly. It's dramatically better but you will see little difference on a 32 in LCD or even a 42 in plasma. Min size is a 50 in really but watch it on a big screen and the wow factor will blow you away.

zoemacuser said:
Cool, another good answer, thank you.

Does that make blu-ray a make-or-break factor on a new MBP for you, or just a "gosh that would be nice."

Can one not get an external blu-ray R/W? I realize this means extra cash, but it would solve the problem for those who absolutely need it.
Click to expand...
 
Brian Hickman said:
...because I am trying to avoid doing my blu-ray authoring by boot camping into Windows 7 and buying windows versions of Adobe tools.
Click to expand...

Ah, so even though there are Mac compatible external and internal blu-ray drives, there's no software on the Mac platform that takes advantage of the hardware?

So we don't just need the hardware from Apple, they'd need to make changes to the software too?

Seems to me that it is highly unlikely, if that's the case, that we'll see blu-ray in MBPs this round.

And as someone who doesn't really care one way or the other if blu-ray is in there, I'd be a bit put off if there was a price jump just to accommodate it. If they do add it, I hope it is an option.
 
homecinemaman said:
Min size is a 50 in really but watch it on a big screen and the wow factor will blow you away.
Click to expand...

Which makes one wonder, aside from authoring and storage capacity, if most people would really see the difference in a MBP 15". :)

I'd have to guess that many people are hanging on blu-ray because they're excited to get the really cool high def movies on their laptop, but if what you say is true... That'd be a no-go on a laptop sized screen.

(For the record, my TV is 45", so that is probably why I wasn't all that impressed. Thanks.)
 
zoemacuser said:
Thanks, once again, got it.

And no, the TV was brand new, the cables were high end, and my eyesight is fine. I had people confirm it before I returned the player. We played the same movie on DVD and then blu-ray, and there just wasn't a "ooooo, aaaaa, wow" experience. Maybe it was a bit better, but not so as to wow one.

My question was answered, so now let's get back to talking about Macs.
Click to expand...

If you only used one movie for comparison, it could have been a crappy title...they do exist.

Just to deviate for a second: another advantage to Blu-ray which hasn't been mentioned is the audio. Surround sound tracks on DVD-Video titles sound pretty awful. They're either lossy Dolby or DTS tracks, the latter usually sounding better. Even the stereo soundtracks on DVDs are sometimes lossy. The soundtracks on Blu-ray, regardless of stereo or surround, are losslessly encoded. This is a big deal to anyone even slightly enthusiastic about good sound.
 
Adidas Addict said:
A 13" laptop is the sweetspot for many many users. Apple know that its their best selling size by some margin and to think they would update the MBP range to current processors and graphics and leave the 13" with old specs is plain crazy. I can only think the list of SKU's is incomplete or something really big is going to happen with the 13" model.
Click to expand...

It is quite likely that not all models are updated on the same day. Just a bit of risk management. If Apple suddenly finds that it has production problems with an i5/i7 processor, it is much better if only 15/17 inch MacBooks are affected and not the 13 inch as well. So here's a possibility:

Week 1: Upgraded 15 + 17 inch MBP.
Week 3: Upgraded 13 inch MBP, $100 off the MacBook.
Week 5: Upgraded MacBook, back to the old price.

So for two weeks lots of people who wanted a 13" MBP buy 15 or 17" instead because it has a better processor. Then for two weeks everybody on a tight budget grabs themselves a MacBook at a bargain price. And then everything is back to normal, just at an improved level.
 
gnasher729 said:
So for two weeks lots of people who wanted a 13" MBP buy 15 or 17" instead because it has a better processor. Then for two weeks everybody on a tight budget grabs themselves a MacBook at a bargain price. And then everything is back to normal, just at an improved level.
Click to expand...

I will confess I was very attracted to the 13" for a long time, just owing to portability. I've been traveling a lot lately and it would save a pound or two and fit in smaller spaces in my bag. But then I realized that I'd also be stuck with a 13" screen on all this travel, and decided it wasn't worth the loss of screen real estate.

If they don't update the 13" then that just makes my choice a lot easier.

Any more rumors out there on what's happening with the Cinema Display? I confess to being jealous of my brother's 27" iMac, and would love a larger display possibility. The only advantage I can see to ordering a 24" with a new MBP is being able to fold them into the same AppleCare plan... Otherwise maybe I'll wait to see what shows up in the display line later this year.
 
Teej guy said:
If you only used one movie for comparison, it could have been a crappy title...they do exist.

Just to deviate for a second: another advantage to Blu-ray which hasn't been mentioned is the audio. Surround sound tracks on DVD-Video titles sound pretty awful. They're either lossy Dolby or DTS tracks, the latter usually sounding better. Even the stereo soundtracks on DVDs are sometimes lossy. The soundtracks on Blu-ray, regardless of stereo or surround, are losslessly encoded. This is a big deal to anyone even slightly enthusiastic about good sound.
Click to expand...

To me surround sound is more important than high def. Of course a good story is the top requirement. Movies that sell themselves for their high definition wonders tend to be crappy movies once you get past the wow factor.

The most annoying thing about the sound quality on most DVD's is not the limitation of the DVD but the mixing of the sound in my opinion. Many of these movies are ruined because for some reason the studios believe that the music should be orders of magnitude louder than the dialog coming out of that one speaker. So you sit there, with the remote in hand, moving the volume up and down as the dialog changes to music and vice versa. The studios should be sued for selling such defective products.
 
I've read somewhere that apple is holding a presentation on the NAB event in las vegas. But that's wednesday.. they would probably announce the updates there right? So that means no update untill then..
 
I am also a fan of lossless audio, but seriously, why is this discussed as an important matter regarding the MBP upgrades?
The sound card, speakers, sound output to whatever headphones/speakers on the MBP is not for high def audio. To properly enjoy that you would need a dedicated BR player, amplifier, good speakers or a solid computer with an awesome sound card.

However, for professional and also personal usage, a BR drive in the new MBP would be awesome of course. Also being able to store those lovely 25-50GB of really important data ;)
 
bob.loblaw said:
The 13" better be gold plated if it's $1799
Click to expand...

LOL ! ... made my morning !!

there are so many posts (really) by the time i woke up :D

.. seriously, they can't have too high prices for pro 13"... its the model which many people first go for, after shifting from virusfullxp :rolleyes: they have to have an entry level model which is accessible to everyone :)

any guesses if Steve checks this site out:confused: just for fun :D
 
homecinemaman said:
It would certainly make me update too. I use FCP and iMovie9 for HD video edits and don't really want to buy an add on unit. The cost implications to Apple shouldn't be that great so it would be nice to have.
Click to expand...

I've used imovie HD primarily to make my movies. I like imovie 8/9 but it frustrates me that you cannot easily change event dates. Have you found a good method for doing that? I have old movies that do not have a date stamp. Also it looks as though events can easily be moved to different drives but not projects. I can see myself running out of room as the projects build up. I've only tried imovie 8. Perhaps it's different in 9?

One more question: is event date editing and project location easier to handle in FCP?
 
I would not be surprised if they added blue-ray to the MBP. It seems like a lot of Mac users are in Media Content Creation and the ability to store a lot of high res videos/images onto a smaller amount of blue-ray vs. larger amounts of dvds would be a nice convenience.

I also don't see dvds/blue-rays completely dying out to "the cloud" when it comes to game distribution. Take FF XIII, 1 Blue-ray disc on the PS3 vs 3 HD DVDs on the XBOX 360. Now lets say that they wanted to release FF XIII (not that they would) or game with similar amount of content on PC/Mac, I would not want to wait to download that amount of content. Even for games that I have purchased as download only, I still would not mind have a physical copy too.
 
jragosta said:
You are horribly misguided if you think that professionals don't use MacBook Pros.

I use my computer professionally and I have an MBP. So do tons of other people.

Even if you meant graphics professionals, I know of some. The photographer who just did my daughter's photo session uses an MBP with Adobe CS3.
Click to expand...

You are absolutely correct! I am a photographer and have been using a laptop for years. I am looking to get my first Mac, a MBP, in the near future. I am waiting to see if I can afford whatever upgrade they come out with, or I will go with a refurbished. There is no "one" computer system that is "one size fits all" IMO, that's why they have so many options. At some point I will probably also get a desktop with a really big monitor to work on my photography, but for now, mobility and ability are the two requirements for me!
 
Guys (and gals) you can forget about blu ray, it ain't happening any time soon, if ever. System wide drm for blu ray has to be implemented, and apple aren't up to doing that.

Blu ray isn't much of a loss imho. Anyone who wants to watch the crap that hollywood puts out nowadays in surround sound (I 'd rather watch them in mute or not at all), can buy a cheap blu ray player for their tv with a decent app. No reason to have it on the macbook.
 
zoemacuser said:
Thanks, once again, got it.

And no, the TV was brand new, the cables were high end, and my eyesight is fine. I had people confirm it before I returned the player. We played the same movie on DVD and then blu-ray, and there just wasn't a "ooooo, aaaaa, wow" experience. Maybe it was a bit better, but not so as to wow one.

My question was answered, so now let's get back to talking about Macs.
Click to expand...

I second the night and day difference for bluray. I was really impressed with it.

Which brand was your tv and which movie were you testing with? I know a lot of tv's that are brand-spanking new, but don't do justice to picture quality and the same with many bluray movies. Some blurays look a lot better than others in my experience too. Maybe you just got a bad combination of everything OR maybe you just had too high of expectations? :confused:
 
First post :)!

I was just wondering, MBP are known to be great for users who work on graphical and multimedia stuff... But is it suitable for finite element calculations? I've been using Matlab and Solid Edge and other programs which use a lot of ressources for simulations and as I'm getting tired of my PC, I was wondering if all those programs are compatible with Mac (I know Matlab is). And assuming I have to run Windows, is there a loss of performance when using Windows on a Mac?
 
Pascal2000 said:
Well 9to5mac says that apple isn't going to host any new products. First the did, and then the story got updated!

http://9to5mac.com/Apple-NAB-2010-Final-Cut-Pro-4-894598534
Click to expand...

Now if that isn't confusing, I don't know what is!

Did someone accidentally associate an event with Apple? I can't imagine Apple would be all that pleased! Maybe that's why Appleinsider and others didn't pick up on this one.

So does that mean we could hear more tomorrow on product updates?
 
deadlydingo said:
I second the night and day difference for bluray. I was really impressed with it.

Which TV was it (brand and size) and which movie were you testing with? I know a lot of tv's that are brand-spanking new, but don't do justice to picture quality and the same with many bluray movies. Some blurays look a lot better than others in my experience too. Maybe you just got a bad combination of everything OR maybe you just had too high of expectations? :confused:
Click to expand...

No way is blu ray night and day, it's night and and a couple or so hours before night.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back